Christmas 2009 part 3

I TOLD you Christmas was a busy time now didn't I? It wouldn't be Christmas without my sweet little Kaylee. I didn't take a lot of pictures that day. I was worn out with the picture taking by then. (and a little partied out by that time too)

These were taken Christimas day at Mark's house. Mark made us a wonderful dinner of prime rib and King Crab legs! Mark is one hell of a cook so it's always a pleasure to eat there. Plus anytime I don't have to do the cooking it's a good day. Mark was the one that turned me on to crab legs. I had no idea how great they are...beats lobster by a mile! And oooohhhhh you should try his grilled swordfish!

Christmas 2009 part 2

Like most people I know, Christmas involves a lot of people. I come from a large family and I have a lot of extended family as well. It's just not possible to see every one on the same day. But I tried anyway....don't ask me why. I think they just all expect it and who am I to try to change the long standing tradition of racing around from house to house trying to spend a "quality" 10 minutes with every person you find inside these houses?

If I was smart (and I'm not saying I am) I'd hop in my pimped out chariot (you saw that in Christmas part 1 right?); pack my girls in the cab with me and head for the hills with the first whiff of turkey around Thanksgiving! But I never said I was smart...and I just keep plugging away each Christmas, hoping I will get to see everyone and never accomplishing that desire. Some of my people get a little irritated by that but most of them have learned that if you don't see me at one party you will always see me at another. And lets not forget that my deck will be available for parties this coming summer too!

So this video is from the second party on Christmas eve, where I missed most of my family but managed to meet up with some of the die hards and a few late gate crashers too. No matter who you meet up with it's usually a good time!

Christmas 2009 part 1

Christmas eve at the Johnson home is a long standing tradition...18 yrs (at least) and counting! This year was warm, fun and even a little fuzzy! I've created a video with some of the pictures I took that night but honestly there were just too many to use them all. My favorite is the one Justin took of me sitting on Kathy on the couch.
The first two pictures are of the chariot I arrived in. I think you'll like it. Of course I always arrive in style and this year we decked it out with lights to make a big show!
There's a picture of my friend Carol in there too. We had to touch base and swap homemade goodies before I moved on to Kathy and Lou's house. The one photo I probably should explain is the fuzzy part of the evening. Turns out Jess's boyfriend Matt has incredibly hairy legs. We were discussing previous knee surgeries (such a Christmasy topic) and after seeing how hairy he was...well, I just HAD to take a picture of that! Matt's a fun guy and such a good sport. I really liked him.
Justin is giving us one of his "playgirl" looks in his photo...he says it's completely natural. (tee hee) I think everything else is self explanatory. There will be another video of the rest of my fun that night. For now...take a peek.

Three Way Wrestling

In between Christmas shopping; training the girls; making Christmas goodies; having power surges and working, what do you think I do? I play dress up; clean up frozen dog poop; start food fights; make crank phone calls and of course take pictures! There's a million other things I do but some of them are illegal; irritating to normal people; and definitely a bad influence on children so we won't go into that right now. One of tamer moments in my life involves the girls in a wrestling match. It's not a fair competition by any means but it sure is fun to watch!

Cooking With Kaylee

Today I had a visit from Chef Kaylee. She was gracious enough to take time from her busy TV show schedule to show me how she makes one of her special Christmas candies and spend the day with me.

It was an exciting day. What a pleasure to have a famous chef in my humble kitchen! And she didn't waste any time showing me her her unique talents. I was very impressed.

The ingredients consisted of small twisted pretzels; chocolate kisses and M&M's (red and green of course). Chef Kaylee works fast and with the confidence of a professional. The pretzels were quickly spread out on two cookie sheets and each candy kiss was unwrapped with precision. The kisses were placed gingerly on top of each pretzel...making sure each was exactly in the middle. They were carefully placed in a 200 degree oven and one can only guess how Chef Kaylee knew the precise time to take them out. She just seemed to know when they would be soft but not too melted.

The cookie sheets were placed on the table and an M&M was pushed into the center of each kiss. When she was done it looked like a sea of green and red. Sweet and salty...what a treat! And so festive looking! The cookie sheets had to be placed in the refrigerator for a period of time to make the candies solid again. Fifteen minutes later it was sampling time and boy can Chef Kaylee sample!

She'd carefully select a perfect candy and nibble it, savoring the sweet and salty flavors blending in her mouth. And seconds later she was popping them in her mouth like it was a race to see who could eat the most!

A little while later her driver arrived so it was time to go. I insisted she take some of her wonderful candies with her...she had worked so hard on them. But I saved some for myself too. And while I eat them I'll dream of Chef Kaylee's next visit and the next wonderful holiday treat she will create for me. I can hardly wait!

NYC

This is one more picture from NYC. We all scooched (is that a word?) over in the booth and had the waitress take our picture. You know I often hear that people in NY are unfriendly or cold and unfeeling...and I've sort of always believed it. But on this trip we asked for directions and got them; had this nice restaurant recommended to us and in general got a good feeling from the people we encountered. Maybe it was because most of the people were from out of town like us. Maybe it was because everyone is getting into the holiday mood. But maybe it's because we misjudge people and group them into categories without really taking the time to know them. It just seems that if you approach people in a friendly manner they seem to respond in kind. Whatever the reason may be we did meet nice people and I'll think twice before saying New Yorkers are cold.

And now that winter is making itself known I think it's time for me to start planning the next trip. I find it very soothing to settle in on a cold night with a warm cup of cocoa and plan the first trip in the Spring. Any suggestions?

New York City

This past Saturday was dedicated to New York City. I've been to New York City before but never to this area. This time around we went to Time Square and Rockefeller Center...and we couldn't have picked worse weather. Of course once you've got the trip all planned and paid for you are committed to going, so bad weather must just be tolerated. Early in the week I started hearing about snow..and I blew it off. There was plenty of time for the forecast to change. The weather man never knows what he's talking about. Those weather men are always gun-ho for some kind of storm. All these phrases and more were running through my head every time I saw a forecast I didn't like. Our weather has been so warm lately I just wouldn't believe that it wouldn't stay that way. I figured we'd get rain if anything.

Saturday morning felt colder than most of the cold days we'd had so far...didn't shake my confidence. I was too busy getting myself and "the girls" all set for the day. I didn't have time to think about much of anything but packing my knapsack and feeding and pottying the pups. I felt bad for them, knowing that they would not be having a fun Saturday. I had people set up to stop by for potty calls but they were going to have to spend most of their day in the pens. Poor little girls!

Justin came wandering out to the kitchen with barely a half hour to get ready. I have a perverse sense of humor at times so I told him we may not be able to go today...there's at least a foot of snow out there! He expressed shock and disbelief but never looked out the window for himself. He took my word for it and continued getting ready, thinking everyone that was meeting at my house was probably going to be late. I had a smirk on my face as I headed back upstairs to finish getting ready.

Not 5 mins later everyone started arriving and I heard Justin ask so how are the roads? Kathy (KC's Mom) gave him a blank look and said what do you mean? It wasn't long after that that he figured out Mommy lied to him and we had a good laugh about it.
Still, I wasn't believing it was going to snow....it was misting out a little but I thought that was all we would see for the day. I was so wrong!!

It took us a little less than an hour to get to the parking lot in Meridan where we were supposed to meet the bus. When we got there the bus wasn't there yet but people were arriving. Eventually the bus arrived and we all loaded up. It's been my experience on bus trips that people will often make instant friends with total strangers or at least share in the anticipation of a fun day ahead. This trip was no different in that respect. We were laughing and joking with some of the people around us within minutes. And to make the trip even more fun a huge box of snacks and a cooler full of water bottles was placed in the seat right behind mine. Great location!

There was some delay getting to NY because of a mysterious need to change bus drivers....still don't know what that was all about but it caused some irritation for the passengers. Once we got to NY and were going to be dumped in different locations, the woman leading the trip told us to look for the bus between 48th and 49th street near St. Patrick's cathedral. She gave us the bus number and her cell phone number as well and we piled out the door into the heart of Times Square and eventually made our way to Rockefeller Center.

There were Christmas lights everywhere and the huge tree was not only ablaze with color but surrounded by lighted angels. It was very impressive but for some reason I thought that tree would have looked bigger. Maybe it would have looked much bigger if we could have walked right up to it...but that wasn't possible. The streets were crawling with people going in every direction and it was starting to rain more. The wind kicked up a bit and I realized I'm going to be colder as the day goes on because I'd forgotten my gloves and didn't think I'd need my earmuffs. Within minutes after getting off the bus I was buying a beautiful scarf from a street vendor for $5.00. (I love the street vendors!!) A few minutes later we were all tramping into a store to look for hats and gloves. I didn't find a hat or even earmuffs that I wanted to wear but I bought a pair of cheap cotton gloves for $1.99 and I was good to go.

Once outside I overcame my desire to "look good" and wrapped my new scarf over my head and around my neck. It kept most of the rain off my hair (I could charge admission to let people see what my hair does in the rain!) and blocked the wind as well. We started off down the street, looking at every shop window and gawking at the all the video type billboards on every building. I'm sure the expressions on our faces and the glazed look in our eyes would have screamed out to new yorkers that we are "tourists"...but we were packed in with other tourist that were just as mesmerized as we were and lets face it, real new yorkers should be used to people wandering around their city with their mouths hanging open, pointing at everything like children. Every few feet I could see someone taking pictures; someone stopping in mid stride to avoid ruining someone else's picture; people wandering around looking excited or impressed and even confused.

It felt like we walked all over that city but I know it was really only a small fraction of it. We did visit M&M World...that was total chaos! Never before have I been in a store that was so packed with people that they had attendants at the escalators to ensure that only a few people were allowed on at a time so they could be absorbed into the crowds at the top and the bottom. The attendants were literally screaming for people to move immediately out of the way so the people behind them would not be caught by the escalator. (Now I understand how those horror stories about escalators actually happen!) It was uncomfortably snug with people in that place....so we all got what we wanted and got out as quick as we could but it still took some time because we kept losing members of our group. I did manage to take a side photo of a gigantic blue M&M dude all done up like Elvis. Wouldn't I love to have that on my front lawn!

We got to view the famous Macy's windows (and plowed our way through the store also)...but to tell the truth I wasn't overly impressed with them. Yes, they were animated and each had a Christmas theme...but somehow I guess I just expected them to be really way over the top and I was expecting an artists rendering of each theme. What I saw looked like something an ordinary marketing dept would come up with. It was well done but a bit ordinary to me. (commercial maybe?) I guess I'm someone that always appreciates an artistic touch whenever I see it...and I just about worship an artist that can WOW me with a concept that I've never thought of before...I like it when art expands my perception of the world. These windows didn't do that for me. They were...normal concepts with expected animation added. (small yawn here)

We had lunch at a place called Stout...don't understand the name...(probably because I don't drink beer?) but the restaurant was nice. I ordered a Cesar salad with smoked salmon...not realizing that smoked salmon is raw, smoked fish sliced thin. I hated it! (as soon as I put it in my mouth all I could think of was where can I spit it out?!) It's good to try new things...but I hated it. Justin and Kathy helped me eat the salmon..I ate the lettuce. Lesson learned....don't order smoked salmon ever again. We took pictures at the restaurant because we were so glad to get out of the rain and the warmth and food made everyone feel happier. I liked the interior of this restaurant...it had booths and dark, glossy woodwork with low lighting. It had been recommended to us by a cashier at a previous store we had popped into.

When we left the restaurant it was absolutely pouring outside! We all had umbrellas at this point but the wind didn't make it easy to use them. (every street corner had a vendor selling umbrellas...and they were loud about it!) Even with the umbrella it was necessary to keep my head wrapped up; my feet and pant legs were already soaked; but my hands were warm and dry!

On our way to Rockefeller Center we passed the outdoor ice skating rink. It's built with steps leading down to it and it's wonderfully decorated all around. We were pretty wet and cold at this point so we didn't linger there but I recall seeing massive toy soldiers standing in sets of two near all the stairways. Now THOSE I liked! (again....something I'd like to have in my yard. ha ha)

Most of the day I had a vague idea of where I was but I wasn't overly concerned about it either. I was enjoying the shops and once we made it to Rockefeller Center...well, that's were I finally saw the artistic interpretation of Christmas. And this was where I really felt the need to take pictures but no picture can do justice to the giant red Christmas ornaments constructed in the middle of a water display. (I SO wanted to touch them!They even had the hooks on them...as if they were just waiting for some giant to come along and place them on his tree!) There were also some fantastic, massive Christmas lights in the same plaza. Once again, I took pictures but they don't give you the scope of how huge the display was. The entire area was lit by smaller white lights all over the trees and some trees had an unusual light setup that made it look like lighted rain coming off the trees. Beautiful to watch...even in the rain. Don't want to forget to mention also that there was a large tree of lights up on the side of a building that continually changed from red to gold...very nice.

Now you will recall that our trip organizer had told us to meet at 48th and 49th streets....so we were heading that way. We were all so soaked through and cold that we decided to duck in to a Star Bucks for coffee and warmth. While we were there it started to snow...thick, wet sloppy snowflakes that splatter as they hit the sidewalk. But we were inside warming up with coffee and sharing the warm air blasting down from above somewhere. We watched the snow and waited, everyone keeping an eye out for the bus. Our wait was made even better by a girl that kept coming around the room with free samples of different flavored latte's in small cups. I don't normally drink much coffee. I'm a dedicated tea drinker. But those latte's were delicious! I had two of them and it wasn't long before I had a pleasant sugar and caffeine high going.

Believe it or not we spent approx 1 and a half hours in that Star Bucks. We didn't have seats but we didn't care...as long as we weren't outside. The doors were left open and more and more people were crowding into that store..very little of them were leaving. Some of them were people from our bus which was comforting because we weren't told exactly where to wait for the bus and that was making us a little nervous. Eventually the woman who organized the trip (never got her name) called us and said we were supposed to wait for the bus at 47th and 48th! Out into the freezing cold we go again! No one was happy about the switch in locations.

We met up with other bus folks on the corner. All of us were cold and wet, standing in the rain and snow waiting..feeling pretty miserable by this point. Our group was pretty irritated that she had changed the location too...lots of people from the bus were never told about the change. As it turned out someone told her she got the location wrong and we had to once again troop back to 48th and 49th streets! (by this point I would have gladly wrung her neck!)

After what felt like an eternity waiting for that bus it finally showed up. Some of us were actually running to get on it...we were that desperate for warmth and a place to sit down! Once on the bus the happy smiles came back on our faces and we settled in for the ride back to Ct. I fell asleep for a little while but it's not possible for me to stay asleep on a bus. When I sleep sitting up like that my mouth keeps falling open and it wakes me up! ha ha
Once we got back to the parking lot it was another hour just to get home. I was never so happy to see my house! I just wanted to get my wet shoes and socks off and get comfortable.

The girls were ecstatic to see me. They must have thought I was never coming back. I should have been home around 7:30 pm but thanks to the spontaneous schedule changes made by our trip organizer, I didn't get in the door until 9:00 pm! Everyone had had enough fun for one day so they all scattered to their own cars and left quickly. I still had to feed the pups and let them play for a couple of hours so I wasn't going to bed soon.

Overall it was a nice trip. The big city sights were great. The Christmas decorations were lovely to see and I'm glad I went. But I can guarantee you that I won't go on a trip to New York City with Justin's work people organizing it again. They are too scatter brained for me. Changing bus drivers; changing locations for pick up; changing the time of pick up...no thanks! Ill make sure if I travel with them again that they've got a parking lot to meet at and someone in charge that isn't prone to forgetting where she told us to meet and isn't inclined to change meeting times on the spur of the moment.

I didn't take a lot of pictures in New York but these are the pictures I did take. I hope you like them.

My Girls

Contrary to popular belief Nicki and Bell do stop biting; tackling; wrestling; stealing food from each other and crashing into furniture...every once in a while. Sometimes they even resist the urge to pee on the carpet. And every once in a great while they actually lay down and go to sleep all on their own...curled up together. (come on folks...collective sigh here...aaahhhhhhhhh)
Of course I like to encourage this behavior by not moving a muscle while Satan's Little Hand Maidens are asleep at my feet...sometimes ON my feet. You see, I'm frantic for some peace and quiet these days. Any time NOT spent separating them; yelling at them; taking mangled toys away from them; removing inedible items from their mouths; chasing them to retrieve personal property; or repeating basic words over and over and over again...is PRECIOUS to me! My vocabulary around the house these days consists mainly of two or three word sentences. No bite; drop it; leave it; Bell sit; Nicki sit; Bell lay down; Nicki lay down...and the ever popular STAY! (which is only one word, I know) I've also become an expert at saying their names in the age old tradition of all parents...drawing out the name...in the hope that by the time the name is complete the offending action will have stopped. NIIICCCKKKKIIII!!! It's said as a warning...sort of akin to a low growl before the big bite comes. It is generally ignored unless this technique is used before they are in full swing.

As I type, my little darlings are at each others throats again...literally. They are racing back and forth from room to room charging each other and crashing in mid air. There are teeth being displayed; barking that will make you deaf; and yelps of pain every so often..that go completely unheard by the pup that is doing the hurting. Each dog has a small bald spot on their body..sort of a trophy of war I guess. They are not often the sleeping angels you see in the picture; hence the nick name: Satan's Little Hand Maidens. I no longer find this kind of behavior cute, funny or even slightly amusing. Now I just want to rub a hundred balloons on them and stick them to the wall for about an hour or so. I've written to Santa for the first time since I was a child. And the first item on my list is a staple gun!

Ah the joys of puppy hood! Is there anything better than being responsible for the patch of missing hair on your sisters throat? Is it not the God given right of every puppy to haul her sister around by the collar whenever possible? Are days not created for chewing up every soft item a puppy can get her mouth around? What a glorious life it is indeed when a puppy can stuff herself with good wholesome food and top it off with a delicious sampling of dirt outside. Ahhh puppy hood...it's a wee miracle of life on four legs and I am privileged to be a part of it with these two ridiculous rowdy pups.

Having said that I can now rest easy in the knowledge that if this wonderful puppy hood goes on too long, Santa's got my back.

Baby on Board

One of my much loved cousins, Carolyn, is having a baby! She already knows it's going to be a boy and she has one daughter already so it's perfect. There is a lot of years between the kids so of course she needed to have a baby shower. Her three sisters pulled off a wonderful shower for her. Being of a mature age, I haven't attended many baby showers in the last few years. When I was having kids myself it seemed like someone was having a baby shower every week. I've noticed as you get older you attend more funerals and wakes than anything else so a baby shower is a very welcome event!

Jean, Sue and Pat did a great job making all the food; the cake; thinking up games to play and even providing grab bag gifts. There were individual gifts for some of the matriarchs in the family as well. It was a fun party and very well thought out. We don't get to see each other nearly enough and in the past year or so it's only been for funerals. So that made the whole party that much more special.

Jean made the cake and Heather decorated it. The message on it was God Bless Derek, so I said who is Derek? Jean said that's what Carolyn is naming the baby. Then Carolyn slid closer and promptly said 'actually Derek was the real father and he took off.' To which I promptly replied God Bless Derek! That was the beginning of the laugh fest. It seemed like one joke followed another all day long. I haven't laughed so much in a long time and it felt good! We took turns putting our own special slant of humor on the day by throwing out one zinger after another. Everything was funny...

Eventually I saw Sue taking pictures and remembered that's what I should be doing too. So here are the pictures from that day. Oh yes, and the one solid red picture is a picture of Derek on the inside.

The Last Rose of Summer

Mother Nature bids farewell to summer with one last tiny little bloom. How this rose managed to bloom with the cold damp weather we've been having is a mystery to me, although it is quite a bit smaller than a normal bloom from this bush. There was one other bud that this bush was trying to push out to a flower but it just didn't have enough sun or warmth to do it. Thank you rose bush for the nod to summer. Sleep well and I will see you in the spring.

Twits in Training

Well we are struggling to fine tune the training with the girls. Each of them has their own personality and that's great but it also means that some times you have to be "inventive" when it comes to training.
For example...Nicki acts like a complete moron when she first gets in the barn door. (training takes place in a barn). She pulls like a fool on the leash, which results in her chocking herself continually, yet she still manages to put back her head and howl at the top of her lungs. This is her way of announcing her arrival. Once I manage to drag her to a seat on the side lines she will spend the next 10 mins trying to sniff; lick, touch noses with or jump on any other dog that happens to be near her. In short, Nicki is the embarrassing dog that I always used to see OTHER people struggle with. And this precious little twit is all mine!
Bell, on the other hand will walk nicely on the leash, calmly enter the building and quietly look at all the other dogs...saying nothing. Then she will also pull like a moron to get to the seating area where she is likely to meet dogs that Nicki is irritating. Together, they are Satanic twins on wheels! Separately they are angels!

Unfortunately for me, this week I had to bring both dogs into the barn by myself. Justin was meeting me there. (he couldn't get there fast enough for me!) I made my loud, out of control entrance with both dogs at the same time. I wasn't surprised that every head turned when we entered the building. It was like a puppy tornado just hit. And what was previously a reasonably quiet group of dogs all burst into song once Nicki started howling again. My first reaction was to scold Nicki (red faced of course) but I immediately realized that was a waste of time. I had no control over the two of them and a barn full of barking dogs. Then I started to laugh. The whole situation was so absurd...so totally the exact opposite of what I wanted to happen...so embarrassing...I just had to laugh about it. I dragged my two idiots to the side lines...calling them fuzzy twits and rowdy morons on my way over there.

There was a nice young woman sitting there with her totally obedient dog..we knew each other from previous classes. She had a fleeting look of horror on her face when she realized I was headed her way. She must have felt sorry for me because she did her best to have a conversation with me while I struggled to keep the pups from running amuck. I honestly have no idea what she said to me...I couldn't hear her over the howling. (oh yes, it continues for awhile with Nick). And I was so preoccupied with just trying to stop them from irritating other dogs (Nicki is the type of puppy that adult dogs usually want to bite) that I couldn't pay attention to her. I think she was complaining about her husband anyway so I just kept nodding every once in awhile and giving non-committal replies. Eventually her dog started to snarl at Nicki so that ended our conversation as we had to put some distance between the dogs.
And before you get the impression that Nicki is the only one driving me nuts....it was sweet little Bell that ended up taking a dump on the floor in the middle of the class. It was Justin's turn to have the red face this time. I had my turn at that when Nicki decided to poop on the floor last week. Does it never end with these two??

Eventually Nicki does calm down and I have to say she does wonderfully when I have her attention. She KNOWS her commands, it's just too hard to pay attention with all the activity around her. Bell does fairly well but she seems to have a fixation on Nicki all the time. The trainer came to me later in the class and suggested I start doing things with the pups separately from each other. Bell needs to know she is her own dog and not just an extension of Nicki. She also said she had the same problem with a dog that didn't want to be separated from another dog of hers. It was a sad time in her house when one dog died and the dependent one was left behind. She said the dog never really got over it. She didn't want me to have the same thing happen some day and now is the time to start preventing that.

With that in mind, Bell is coming with me today over my parents house. Today is one of my "dad days" so I'm bringing Bell with me. It will be interesting to see how she acts with me alone. And hopefully it will be the first step in creating an independent Bell. And honestly it will be a relief to only have to deal with one of them for a change. They are great pups but they wear me out!

The Deck is Done

Well it's done! Finished! Completed! The deck is done!....at least for now. We've got the stain on and there is nothing more to do to it until next year. I am so relieved I can't express it!
Now don't laugh at the pictures...I didn't miss any spots by accident. Some of the old boards had to be replaced so they also have to be allowed to breath for awhile and can't be stained right now. We will stain them next year and probably give the rest of the deck (at least the floor boards) another coat at that time too. I know it looks a little strange at the moment but try to think of it as an unusual decorating pattern. Everyone that comes over is being told we think it's a cool pattern and don't they think it looks cool. You should see the look on their faces! Most of them think I'm a little nuts sometimes anyway and they almost believe it. ha ha
While it was drying Justin put the garbage bin in front of the steps. I didn't think that was good enough so I put a sign up that said don't step on my wet deck. We gave it two days to dry and used the front door for all our coming and going. We've never used the front door much and I didn't even know if I had a key for it. As it turns out the key for the back door also fits the front door. Convenient!
The pups thought it was a real treat to go out the front door. They are almost never in the front yard because of the street traffic and the yard is not fenced in so it's not safe for them. The back yard is only partly fenced too but it's much safer if either of them should get loose.

Now that the deck is behind us and we know how much work is involved....we're still thinking about stripping and painting the fence next year. I've been wanting to extend the fence all the way to the end of my property but I have some investigating to do first. It seems like the most popular choice is to go with something made of plastic instead of wood. I'm told the plastic basically lasts forever and doesn't require anything...and the wood will eventually rot and of course will periodically require stripping and painting. I'd like the least amount of work of course but I absolutely HATE plastic in most of it's forms. I'm a tree-hugger and I'm big on always trying to do the environmentally friendly thing...but in this instance it's going to be a really tough choice. And of course money is always an issue too. So that will probably be a winter project..along with deciding what to plant in the garden next year too.

A Close Call

The other night I was walking the girls just like any other night. (yes, I'm actually waking them at the same time when my arms and hands feel up to the work out). Both the girls have come a long way with their heeling and I was pleasantly surprised. At first they are total morons when we leave the house. You would think they had never seen the outside of the house by the way they act....falling all over themselves and each other to be the first one to reach the sidewalk. It takes a good 5 minutes for them to calm down enough to even be aware that I'm with them. Everything they look at is interesting. Every sound they hear requires stopping; cocking their ears and tilting their heads in order to hear it better. (sometimes they look like mechanical dogs when they do that the exact same way at the same exact time....very cool).

Don't let anyone tell you it's easy to teach two young dogs to walk together. Maybe it's easier with a harness but I refuse to use them on the girls. To use a harness is to admit defeat to the world. A harness says my dogs are not leash trained and I want my arms to stay in their sockets. I'm determined not to send that message to the world. I want these dogs to be trained very well so I can trust them off leash and in most circumstances. I want them to be my friends and not unruly children that make my friends cringe to see them coming. So I walk them constantly and sometimes together.

This night all is going well... after they finally realized that in fact they are not in a race and there is no prize for dragging Mom down the street. We took a different direction that night and practiced our turns several times. The trainer from our class suggested taking different routes while training on leash to keep them on their toes and push them in the direction of paying attention to what I'm saying to them. For a little while however, the only thing getting pushed were my buttons. Nicki would suddenly what to go left while Bell was dropping back behind me...and they constantly were changing positions to the point where I no longer knew who was who. (a deliberate act of sabotage if you ask me) But eventually even my two clowns run out of tricks and they actually started paying attention to me. (as long as there were no fire hydrants lurking around the corner).

We were in the home stretch and doing a beautiful job of it when it suddenly all went wrong. We were crossing the driveway to Leete Stevens (a funeral home near my house) when we all were nearly run over by some woman leaving the funeral home. There had been a wake and lots of cars had already left. It was our misfortune to be crossing the driveway when this woman came tearing through the parking lot and was headed straight for us. At first I wasn't alarmed, I wasn't really even aware of her...my attention was focused on the girls. Somewhere in my head the sound of her engine registered with me and then I realized she wasn't slowing down...she was going faster. But still, your mind says she'll stop...she can't miss seeing us...there are FOUR huge lights shining down on us. And then I realized she wasn't going to stop...she was going to go right through us!

At about the same time my heart started racing; my brain told my body what to do without bothering to think about it. I yanked the girls back and jumped away from her car...all in one smooth motion..or at least it felt that way. And then I felt paralyzed with the secondary fear that sets in once you realize the close call you just had. I looked at her in disbelief as she stops the car at the edge of the driveway where it meets the road. I instantly got the impression that if cars had not been coming down the road she would have just kept going. She had this look on her face like she had no idea why I was standing so close to her car. Well.....let me tell you, I TOLD her just exactly why I was standing so close to her car! And I told her at the top of my lungs to her face! It started off with what the hell is the matter with you? I'm walking here and you nearly ran me over! (Her window was up and that's fortunate because I had suddenly found myself feeling like I'd like to pull her through the window and pound her face). In all honestly I don't fully remember what I said next. All I know is it rivaled the language an angry pirate may have used if you decided to pull on his beard. I let loose with a barrage of filthy language...called her every name that came to mind...I've been around awhile so I know a few words...and it felt good!
To her credit, she took it and said nothing back. She had a look of shock on her face when I was through with her...no surprise there. But it was the best thing she could have done...nothing...just let me rant and I'll move on. And that's exactly what I did.

We continued on our way. We were almost home. And the whole way I was reliving the scene in my head. And I know why I blew up at her. It's not because I was mad at her or because I really think she is the dumb f*ck that I called her. She may in actuality have been very upset after coming from a wake. Perhaps she lost a good friend. I get that. I blew up at her because I was scared...because she could have killed me and my dogs right there in the street..(or worse, killed just me and they'd be loose in the road at night) ...because I wasn't prepared for a life threatening event and my instinct was to protect my pups. I was furious with her because of the threat to the puppies. I never would have reacted so strongly if I had been alone. I'm not the kind of person to go off on a stranger.

There are two things I feel very strongly about in this world...protecting young children and animals. It's mostly about innocence and trust. Young children and animals trust us to love them and protect them from the evils of the world. They are innocent in every sense of the word. And I sincerely believe that it's our responsibility as adults to honor that trust in order to protect their innocence. I don't know where that feeling comes from in me. I don't know why I feel so strongly about it. Maybe it developed in me when I became a Mom and realized all the dangers there are in the world for children. You can never fully protect them and that little secret fear for them was always with me. All I know is somewhere along the way I took on some of the traits of a lioness. And this lioness, when angered, has a mouth like a sailor and if you push me too far Kitty has claws too!

Rocking Halloween 2009

Halloween just seems to get better and better every year. When I was a kid it was all about the candy. When my kids were young it was all about making sure they had fun. But now...now it's my turn again and I'm taking full advantage!
I've always had an interest in costumes and all the variations that come from that field. Some friends think I have an abnormal interest in dummies....you know, mannequins. I love them. But I love them because I have SUCH ideas in my heads for what they can be used for! Of course they would all be based around Halloween and they would just HAVE to be animated somehow....if only I knew how to do it. The world would never be the same. ha ha But I digress.

Halloween this year was exciting and exhausting. I was Lady Elaine...the Lady of the Manor. Carol was a Groovy Chick from the 60's. We had such a great time and I caught some of the highlights with my camera. Unfortunately once again I've over done it with the photo's and I'm unable to post the video I made. (too big I guess) So I'm forced to put up the best photo's and hope you can get a sense of how the evening went.

Let me first say that there are some costumes that I have to mention because they impressed me and the people wearing them "played the part", which is a huge plus to me. The best costumes were: Groovy Chick (of course!); Little Mushroom Girl (KC- actually handed out mushroom shaped candies...looked more like penis' to me. ha ha); The Pimp (Justin); Pirate Wench (sexy one of course); Little Red Riding Hood (sexy version); Baby Hughey (definitely NOT sexy!); Shrek (green faced!); Marilyn Monroe & President Kennedy; God of Pot (complete with ounce bags of pretend weed); and let us not forget a Knight from the Crusades (he was a big one too!)

People were very friendly and not a single fight broke out all evening. That is rare with the amount of alcohol they were sucking down. I received a great deal of complements from both the boys and the girls..that was nice. One extra friendly fella gave me such a big bear hug with a sloppy wet kiss, I thought I had lost a contact! And you would have thought that would have put me on my guard but it happened a few more times during the evening...and it wasn't always the boys that were planting kisses on me! But eventually I learned not too get too close when I took their picture...and the occasional well placed elbow jab came in handy too. And when the elbow jab wasn't possible a whispered threat out of the corner of my mouth worked like magic. Turns out I'm extremely adept at threatening someone while smiling for the camera!
But before I have you believing that I was spending the evening in a pit of molesters from Hell...I did have quite a few gentlemen to defend me as well. Something about The Lady of the Manor costume must have kicked in their damsel in distress gene! (very sweet of them)

So rather than continue explaining the evening lets just see some pictures, shall we? These are not all the pictures I took that night but at least these are some of the best of them. I hope you enjoy them. It was an evening I won't soon forget!

Bell Needs to Carry Pepper Spray

So much has been going on lately I've barely had time to think.
I've been doing all kinds of general work around the house while at the same time taking care of Nicki; trying to make sure Bell isn't ignored; and almost frantically trying to finish that damn deck!

Today Justin and I took both dogs to "play tennis"...which really means the dogs run crazy within a safe and confined area while we make sure they aren't eating any rocks or sticks. They have a real talent for finding rocks to eat. They ran their legs off for a bit and Nicki was the first one to slow down and catch her breath.

There was someone there with two other dogs. They must have had the same idea (contained play) because Nicki was making friends through the fence. I noticed Bell was keeping her distance a little and letting Nicki take the lead. I'm not surprised that Bell hangs back now. She's the one that keeps having scary incidents with other dogs while we are on our walks. I don't know why it keeps happening to Bell...poor little girl. Just the other night I was walking her and saw two women coming towards us with their dog. I yelled out to ask if their dog was friendly. They said yes, he's friendly. As I got closer to them I explained that I want to socialize my pup if he's ok with young dogs. Again, they agreed he was friendly. He was only a medium size dog but still bigger than Bell. She had no fear of him and they were nose to nose for about a minute or two. Suddenly the other dog attacked Bell with no warning. He just lunged at her, snarling and biting at her face! Luckily Bell jumped back and I yanked her leash away from him in time. She got really shaken up by it but she wasn't hurt.

While I was checking Bell over the two women asked if she was ok. I said yes, I don't think he actually bit her. And then the other woman said he wasn't trying to bite her, he was playing! My head snapped up and I looked at her with total disbelief. I couldn't believe she just said that. I said: He just attacked her! That was NOT playing!! I talked to Bell to sooth her and we moved away. I didn't even look at them again but Bell did. She kept looking behind her like even SHE couldn't believe they thought that was playing.

As the whole incident started to sink in I started getting more and more angry. What the hell is wrong with people that would tell you their dog is friendly..when it's not and then tell you he was playing when he almost took a chunk out of her?? Are they that clueless or are they complete morons?? That was a really serious situation that could have had a really bad ending. I don't think I'm going to try socializing my dogs on the street anymore. They will be starting training this week anyway so they will be meeting other dogs there. Apparently people on the street just can't be trusted to even know their own dog. And from now on I'm going to be carrying my pepper spray too.
Better watch you step there doggy...you bite my dog and you're going to get a face full of pepper! (and I just might spray the owner while I'm at it too. ha ha)

Nicki Update

After a long night on the couch I was happy to discover that Nick looked better this morning. She was standing in her pen, waiting to go out.
After breakfast (she ate well) she made the attempt to play with Bell but I had to break it up after a few minutes. Bell doesn't understand that Nicki sitting still isn't an invitation to tackle her and engage in doggy wrestling. Poor Nick just didn't have the energy to keep up with Bell very long. Eventually Bell settled down a bit (at least she stopped jumping all over Nicki) and Nick sat down and just stared at a wall. That is a dog that doesn't feel well!

I gave Nicki another anti-inflammatory and about 30 mins later she was completely normal acting. I think she starts to feel bad again when the anti-inflammatory wears off. I know that means that I was just covering the symptoms but at this point I didn't have any other choice.

Eventually I got the results from Nicki's blood tests. The vet said (my normal vet; not the guy I saw last night) that her white blood count was up and her red blood count was down. She was also borderline anemic. He feels there's an infection going on there but is unable to nail it down. He also thinks it might be Lyme disease (or possibly some kind of parasite). I'm really hoping he's wrong about the Lyme.

I've already gone through years of treatment with a dog that had Lyme. It can be a reoccurring problem or it can be nipped in the bud. My Allie had several recurrences over the years and I was always able to help her feel better. But I lived in constant fear that she would have another episode as she got older and her health became more unstable.

So it was another trip back to the vet to pick up an antibiotic. This is the same antibiotic I used to give Allie...only now it mysteriously costs more. (I wonder if it would have been cheaper if I'd bought it at CVS?) And now we wait and see how she does. I don't like giving her antibiotics or any drugs for that matter. I've almost got them completely off commercial puppy food and now this will be another set back for the health of her digestive system. (I'm giving them yogurt also but that may not be enough). I also cooked them both some chicken livers and added it to their food tonight. You would have thought I was trying to kill Bell the way she picked at her food. She is not impressed with liver! (and strangely enough green beans kept showing up on the floor too) Nicki on the other hand ate every bit of her food so fast I doubt she even knew what it tasted like. The way they both eat grass; nuts; twigs and leaves you'd think they wouldn't be picky about liver.

They both will be seeing the vet in another week (Oh boy more money to him!) for the second Lyme vaccine. Nicki will be tested again at that time first. And a stool specimen will be needed too. No worries about gathering THAT specimen. Everything is working just fine at that end!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she still tests negative.

Nicki Is Sick

Nicki is sick and I can't figure out how or what is wrong with her. It started last night when I came home from taking care of Dad. It was late and Nicki acted a little weird when she went to bed. I didn't really worry about it because they play hard together and they had both been stretched out on Mom's kitchen floor before I left. I thought maybe she was just tired.

By morning it was obvious that I was wrong. Nicki wouldn't get up and didn't want to leave her pen. Considering what a chow hound she is this was very weird for her. I started to worry immediately. I did the rapid debate with myself in my head. Should I stay home? Should I take her to the vet? Should I wait a day to see how she is later? I hate these decisions. My gut always tells me to stay home and tend to the animal but I'm all out of vacation time and sick time at work. I missed a lot of work at the beginning of the year when Allie died. But that memory triggers the fear and now I'm really torn.

Luckily KC had the day off and she volunteered to keep an eye on Nicki and Bell for me. I had already missed my bus and had to hurry to catch the next one. The day at work dragged. I was worrying about Nick all day. When I got home she seemed worse. Now she doesn't want to eat or drink either and she just lays there. Taking her out to pee she was like an old dog...no spark there and obviously not feeling good.

I took her temp. It was good. I made food for them both and had to hand feed Nicki while she was laying on her side. She wouldn't get up to eat. I got most of the food into her...she loves chicken. Then I used a shot glass to get some water into her...again she is laying on her side. Her breathing is shallow and too fast..she looks like a dog that's dying.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I called the vet. My vet had gone for the day but there was another vet on call. Nicki and Bell don't have any history at this point..they've never been sick so I figured a new vet couldn't do anything wrong. I took her in.

Well the vet didn't know what was wrong with her either. He took blood to test for Lyme Disease...negative. (I had a feeling it wasn't that anyway but we had to rule it out). Then they took more blood and sent it out to the lab. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what that will tell us. Meanwhile Nicki is on an anti-inflammatory drug and it seems to have helped a little bit.

My gut is talking to me again too. I think she hurt herself somehow at Mom's house last night. I didn't see anything happen to her but whenever I take the two of them out together they both pull and go nuts on the way out. She might have gotten hurt on the stairs last night without me seeing it. My gut is telling me that she has hurt one of her hip joints and the blood tests will come back negative.

Lets hope I'm right and she is acting more like normal tomorrow. For tonight I'll be sleeping on the couch so I can keep an eye on her. And tomorrow I will take the day off (without pay) just to make sure she's getting better or to take her back to the vet if she needs it.

But for now I'm $259.04 poorer and about to make myself comfortable on my couch.

Bell...NO

Today wasn't such a bad day even if there was rain and wind all day. The girls were out of their pens quite a bit today. And there hasn't been more than one accident on the carpet since I washed it. (Any day with no pee is a good day!)

I knew that the girls were going to need to cut loose a bit today and I wasn't about to brave that cold wind and rain to make sure they were exercised. So I let them tear through the house for about a half hour at a time several times today. In between that they played quietly in the kitchen while I paid some bills and made various foods for myself and the pups. Then I read up on some dog information and it was time for the girls to run wild again. It was sort of like little mini doses of controlled chaos. Not a bad arrangement at all considering we didn't have many choices.

Well it was during our last controlled crazy time that it all went wrong....very wrong. I had just reached my level of enough is enough with the running back and forth. I told the girls to stop and lay down (they sometimes even listen to me now) and Nicki stopped to pick up her stuffed bunny before throwing herself down on the carpet and dedicating her quiet time to destroying it. For no reason known to me Bell walked over, stood over Nicki and suddenly started peeing on her...all over her head; neck and ear!
While I couldn't believe what I was seeing, my mothering instincts kicked in immediately and I launched myself off the love seat at Bell....yelling NO at her I grabbed her scruff and gave her a little shake (ok maybe a big shake) before hauling her over to her pen.

I turned around and poor Nicki was winking pee away from her eye while dripping pee off her ear! She had such a confused look on her face...poor thing. I gave her a double washing of the face; neck and ears; cleaned up the rug and then went back to clean Nicki again! I couldn't imagine having someone pee on me like that but more importantly I kiss those two on the head all the time! (Yuck!)

No pictures of this one guys...but then how weird would it be if I actually had a picture of that!

Meeting Lily

Since the girls have arrived Lily has a new hobby. Her hobby involves frustrating both dogs by never letting them get close enough to sniff her. (You can look but you can't touch!) At first she would peek around a corner and run when either of them looked her way. Then she progressed to hiding in a room where they couldn't see her but she could watch them. Eventually she became really brazen and would sit in a doorway watching them without even hiding at all.

Every time either one of the dogs tried to go check her out she would stand her ground and crank back a paw...just waiting for them to get within striking range. She has hit each of them several times but she's never used claws...always used a "soft paw" when she smacked them. Of course the pups would jump back like she was spitting fire when she smacked them. And they never got a clue that maybe they would be more successful if they approached her individually. I can't even count how many times they would both bound at her..only to find themselves uncomfortably close to a furry arm flying out to smack the nearest one.

The pictures here are of the first time both of them have been able to get close to her at the same time. Lily was coming up from the basement and decided to peek from the doorway before venturing out into the room. Both dogs knew she was in the doorway but neither one was brave enough to get close to her. (I'm sure Bell remembers Lily bopping her on the top of her head last time she stuck her head in that open door!) For once Nicki and Bell laid down calmly and just waited instead of jumping at her like they usually do. Lily became braver as time went by and she actually came out into the kitchen with both of the pups frozen stiff and staring at her. Lily was trying to make it to Justin's lap but she never made it. The pups broke the freeze when she got really close and she was off like a shot!

Despite the fact that we are not one big happy family here yet, progress was made this day. Lily is losing her fear of the pups or learning that her "mysterious creature that watches" routine has some definite benefits. The pups are learning that patience and a calm demeanor may work in their favor when it comes to figuring out what this elusive animal is all about. And I learned that I really need to take care of the trim and that patched spot on my wall! (when you live with it you tend not to see it anymore...sheepish grin here).

Wounded Warrior Comedy Night

I went to the comedy night for the Wounded Warriors last weekend at the Elk's Club. (the 10th?) These days there is so much going on that I can't seem to keep track of it all. The evening was hosted by the Blue Star mothers who are mothers of wounded soldiers and the proceeds go to the Wounded Warriors program. It is a wonderful program and something that I may one day get involved with myself. I was very impressed with the speaker for the program (who's name I'm sorry I can't remember). They get way more involved with our disabled soldiers than I realized.

The evening started out a little unsettled. I wasn't sure who was expected to show up but I found Carol and Tom immediately...or they found me actually. There was some table switching going on for a bit until Tom decided he wasn't moving again. (can't blame him..it was his third switch!) Justin came with me. We both were looking forward to a little comedy.

We eventually decided we better get in line for the buffet. The line was huge! When we got to thefood it was pretty well depleted so new trays were on the way. Kathy was bringing out a big container of meatballs in sauce and when she put it in the tray holder the container somehow tipped and one corner was pouring out sauce all over the table; floor and unfortunately Kathy's hand! A couple of other people grabbed it and took over. Kathy beat feet to take care of her burned hand. Later she said it wasn't too bad but I bet it hurt quite a bit! Burns like that are no joke and they tend to hurt for some time later. Poor Kathy!

After the food it was time for the comedy. I don't remember the names of any of the comedians. (you shouldn't be surprised about that) The first guy was good. He got the crowd involved for awhile and it was funny. The second guy was ok..but not my cup of tea. Justin liked him the best. The third guy was the headliner and honestly he was the best of the three but he was no Dane Cook. (if you don't know who that is...well, you need to watch comedy central more!) I'm not saying these guys weren't funny, they were. I think it was their choice of topics that just didn't do it for me. I was hoping for more cutting edge humor I guess. Some of their jokes were stuff you might hear at any party.

I do have some pictures here from that evening. Some of them are pretty good but some of them are nothing special. I had some difficulty with the pictures because of lighting issues....or because I'm no expert with a camera...take your pick. I did my best to "fix" the ones that were too dark or out of focus a little. At least it's something to look at!

Bubbles Bubbles Everywhere

Aren't bubbles wonderful? They come in so many shapes and sizes. They can be clear or colored; they can even be iridescent. They are often fleeting and beautiful but can also be long lasting depending on where they appear.

There are many kinds of bubbles in the world. You can have bubbles in a bath or blow bubbles from a small wand. You'll find them in champagne and in the surf at the beach. Some people are even said to live in a bubble. Sometimes they fly away on the wind and sometimes the sunshine will make them change colors. Bubbles can be relaxing; exciting or just plan fun.

But do you know when bubbles aren't fun? They aren't fun when there are too many of them...when they just keep coming and you can't stop them. Maybe you're thinking when would that happen? Well I can tell you. Bubbles are no fun at all when you put dish soap in a dishwasher (because you don't have any dishwasher detergent) and you find out the hard way that you've put too much in the machine....way too much! And this is what happened to me tonight at the animal shelter! How much worse is it to have your blunder so public....and even worse yet, someone else will have to complete the clean up tomorrow.

Picture if you will an industrious volunteer at the animal shelter...folding laundry; walking dogs; cleaning pens....and cleaning dirty dog dishes. It was toward the end of my evening that I decided I had enough dirty dishes to run the machine. That's when I discovered there wasn't any detergent for the machine. Well, I couldn't run it without any cleaning agent so I figured dish liquid would do the trick nicely. And it might have worked out fine if I hadn't put too much in the machine.
About 20 minutes later I noticed some suds on the floor as I was finishing up to go home. As I watched in horror, the machine changed into the next gear and suds began pouring out of every opening that machine had! I froze for about 20 seconds while I stared at the mess gushing out of that machine. Then I ran for the mop. But the mop was no help at all. The mop is already wet so it can't soak up anything. Next I ran back with the mop and switched it for the floor squeegee. (this is a long handled one thankfully) There is a drain in the floor so I thought all I had to do was direct the soap suds to the drain and it would be ok. That plan was shot to hell when I watched the suds building up around the drain....that's when I realized that the water would go down the drain but the damn suds won't...it sits on top.

Now I've got a dishwasher that is throwing up a constant stream of soap suds and a puddle of suds that is growing around the drain. (and I haven't even told you about the suds that was gathering under and behind the machine) NOW what do I do??!! Finally I had a coherent thought...I shut the machine off. (Duh!) Then I just had to look inside and find out just how bad this situation was. When I opened the door even more suds and water came sloshing out! There were bubbles and water everywhere.

At this point I'm hoping that someone would suddenly appear and just make this all go away. Unfortunately the people that did see the problem just sort of acknowledged that I had a real problem there and kept on moving. (I swear I saw Ann's shoulders shaking as she turned away....I just bet she was laughing!) In the back of my head I kept thinking that a bar of soap would kill the bubbles. (how many times as a kid did I lose my wonderful bubbles in the bath when I had to use the bar of soap to finish?) Problem is...we don't use bars of soap at the shelter...everywhere you look its all liquid soap. Then Ann finally stopped laughing long enough to suggest we take a look upstairs in the locker room to see if they have a bar of soap up there. Ann you are a genius! (I didn't even know we HAD a locker room in the place) Turns out we have a women's and a men's locker room and I found a bar of dove soap in the women's locker room. Hurrah, I'm saved!

Nothing in life is ever really as easy as it looks is it? And this was no exception. I took the soap downstairs and started chipping small slivers of soap into a pile with of all things, a box cutter. I kept tossing the slivers into the machine and chipping more. Ann suggested I put the whole bar in the machine and turn it back on but that machine takes way too long to run through it's cycle and I didn't feel like turning this into a sleep over. The slivers of soap did cut down the suds somewhat but I just didn't have enough soap to really fix the situation.

I decided to cut my losses and call it a night. I took the soap back to the locker room...hope the owner doesn't get upset about the misshapen soap. Next I cleaned up as much of the suds as possible; even used the hose to force it down the drain. Then I labeled the dishwasher telling the staff tomorrow that another rinse cycle is needed and that I am sorry I couldn't clean it all up. I just know someone is going to have a rotten time getting the suds all out of that damn thing. I feel guilty now because it's not like me to leave my mess for someone else to clean up. However, I did get the feeling that this is not the first time this has happened. Nobody freaked out about it (besides me) and even though it is a mess...well, at least the floor smells really clean!

Kaylee's Birthday Party

We had a birthday party at my house for Kaylee the other weekend. She's 6 yrs old already..(and I can still remember holding her in my arms the day she was born. Seems like it was just yesterday). Some of her little friends showed up with their Mom's. In my day the Mom's used to dump their kids and run! I'm glad they stuck around. Kaylee had a good time. Some of the boys got a little rowdy and there were a few tears a couple of times.. but nothing that wasn't cured by cake.

Kaylee spent a little time drawing on the driveway with some colored chalk. That's another thing that wasn't around or wasn't popular when my kids were little. This was the first time I had "original art" created on my driveway. There were lots of gifts; some balloons; cake and ice cream and some crazy energy being used up by the little ones.

The puppies were a big hit when I brought them out for a potty break and social time. A spontaneous game of frisbee and soccer broke out in the back yard between some of the adults and a couple of the kids. The puppies got involved whenever the frisbee happen to land close enough for them to steal it and run. Of course they couldn't run too far because I had them each on a long leash. (they will not be off leash for a very long time but they don't know that, so don't tell them please!) They always seem so surprised when they get to the end of the leash and come to an abrupt stop. ( silly puppies)

Kaylee had a great day and so did the rest of us. Of course for Kaylee any day that has both cake and ice cream is a wonderful day. At one point we had Kaylee all decked out in every bit of birthday girl identification items we had. She loved all the stuff she had on. We even decked Mom (my mother) out a little bit before she went home. I think we all get our sense of humor from my mother. She's always game for anything silly or a good practical joke.

Bell's Day

This is me with Bell on my lap. If she intends to be a lap dog much longer....I'm going to need a much bigger lap!

Training continues with both pups. I now call Bell (affectionately)....Dumbbell when we are "working". I call it work...Bell calls it screwing with Mom's mind. I know from experience that you have to repeat constantly to get a puppy to finally "get it". And I'm perfectly willing to do that because the end result is an adult dog with great manners, that's pleasant to have around. But Bell is definitely a challenge.
Every day her training is different...not the stuff we go over...only the way she responds. At one point I was convinced she finally knew what sit means. But today it was nothing but blank looks and loving tail wags. She was pretty good with heeling..even better than Nicki was today. But every time I said sit she just stared straight ahead or looked at me with that adorable blank look in her eyes and wagged her tail. It's like she thought she had already done it! I just had to laugh at her. She's such a sweet little dip stick some times I just can't help but crack up.

On our way back home she was heeling really nice, I was praising her all the way, telling her she's a good girl, talking nonsense in a silly voice...she was eating it up. Then up ahead of us I saw a woman walking a big bruiser of a Lab with a harness on him. That was my first tip off. People that use a harness usually do that because the dog isn't trained and their walk time is all about who's got the most muscle...her or the dog. I was a little nervous when I saw him coming. He had seen us and he decided to drag his woman over to see us. She made an attempt to drag him to the side away from us but I called to her that if he's friendly I'd like them to meet. (can't believe I said that!) I was shaking in my shoes as we got closer. He was such a big hulk of a dog and my poor Bell is so tiny and shy. But I'm determined that my dogs will be much better socialized than my Allie was. Allie had a lot of problems and one of them was not being socialized enough when she was young. I didn't understand how important it is to socialize a timid dog until it was too late with Allie. So I'm not going to make that mistake again. You have to address the fact that the dog is lacking confidence. Bell is a timid dog too but at least she is willing to try.

When we finally met "Bruiser" (my name for him. I never got his real name) he was fine with Bell. She sat down and didn't move a muscle. (sure, NOW you know how to sit!) I gave her a lot of credit for not trying to bolt away from him. He was at least 6 or 7 times her size...hell, he was almost bigger than me! Well he decided that Bell was wonderful and started sniffing and prancing around her like they were old friends. (he liked her because he isn't neutered). Bell just continued looking at him and sitting quietly but sort of in a stiff way. (do I even KNOW you dude?) Bell tends to do the statue thing when she's nervous too. Eventually he had sniffed his fill of her and we were on our way. Bell gave it all away at that point because she kept looking behind her..watching him walk away. (Bell, you have to play hard to get girl!) We discussed him all the way home.